Preparations having been made for erecting a general hospital in the
town of Rosetta, all that were capable of being removed from Aboukir
were sent there. I left Aboukir, and was taken on board of a Germ on the
23d June; which sailed in the afternoon; and at day-break next morning,
we were near the entrance of the Rosetta branch of the Nile. The surf on
the bar, at the mouth of the river, was high; but the Arabs, who
navigated the vessel, risked the passage. The hazard on such occasions
is considerable, owing to the surf, and the shallowness of the water on
the bar: for the vessel is in danger of striking on the bottom between
the surges; and, when this takes place, the next wave that comes is apt
either to break over her and fill her with water, or to overset
her.--When we came opposite that part of the bar, which the Arabs
thought deepest, they pointed the bow of the vessel to it, and clued up
the sails that she might have little pitch, and might float as level as
possible; they then got out hand poles; and, as soon as she began to
lose head-way, they set the poles to the bottom, and pushed her forward
with all their power, making a great noise, until we got over the bar
into smooth water. There were several masts of vessels visible near
where we passed, that had recently been swamped in this dangerous
passage. Many British seamen lost their lives here, for they were
ignorant of its real danger, and would hardly be convinced of it,
because it had not at a distance a very dangerous appearance. It was not
until they had actually got upon the bar, that the extent and nature of
the danger were perceivable; and then, to attempt to return against the
wind and surge is vain; they must push through or perish. At the first I
wondered why the Arabs were making so much noise; but when we came upon
the bar my surprise ceased. I had never seen any thing like it; yet the
wind was not stormy, and if such was the state of this place with a
moderate wind, how terrible must it be in a storm.--As soon as we were
in smooth water, the large sails were again spread out to the wind, we
passed rapidly up the Nile, and in a short time were at Rosetta.
I was soon taken into a large square building, having a square court in
the centre, and piazzas round about from the bottom to the top; the
ground flat, which was high in the roof, was occupied as cellars,
store-houses, &c. There were two flats above, the various apartments of
which communicated with piazza'd passages, round the centre square. This
building, from the largeness of its size, and the number of its
apartments, accommodated a great many patients, consisting of men of all
the different regiments, promiscuously lodged together.
In coming into a place of this kind, among so many strange faces, and
various and opposite characters, it is a matter of some consequence to
meet with some one previously known, to whom you can talk, in whom you
can place confidence, and who will act the part of a comrade. In this
respect I was fortunate; falling in with a man of my own company, whose
bed was next to mine: a young man of agreeable dispositions. He was the
rear rank man of the second file from my right, in the battle of the
13th March, who got the calf of his leg grazed by the cannon ball, as
formerly related. His leg was now in a hopeful way; and being able to
move about with the help of a stick, he was serviceable to me who was
confined to bed. In this building we were more cool than on the sands of
Aboukir; the flies were not so excessively troublesome through the day;
and as the floor, which was upon arches, was paved with flat stones, or
large bricks, the fleas were not so numerous. But a new enemy attacked
us during the night, which we had not met with before--the mosquitoes.
They were very troublesome; and there was no way of securing ourselves
from their bite, which was very sharp, and for a while had an
inflammatory effect; so much so, that every one for some time after his
arrival, resembled a person in the height of the measles. Our
accommodation and attendance were much better here in many respects. We
were provided with sheets for our beds, which was very agreeable; for a
sheet was as much as one could bear for a covering during the night; nor
was even that needed so much for heat, as to be a partial defence
against the musquitoes. Our woollen blankets, which would have been
quite uncomfortable from their heat, were very useful now to put under
us; for our beds being made of branches of the date tree, put across
each other, with a slender matt, made of a particular kind of rushes,
laid over them to cover the holes, the cross spars soon became
prominent, and were very uneasy to lie upon. My knapsack was my pillow,
and my blanket, folded _four-ply_, I put under me. Without it indeed, it
would not have been possible to lie in the beds; and even with it, they
were very uncomfortable, especially for those who were long and close
confined to them.
I had not been in Rosetta above a fortnight, when my wound again
inflamed and mortified in a most alarming degree; the leg swelled
excessively, and the wound became large and jet black, with a most
offensive smell. I was very much alarmed; I beheld many dying, whose
wounds were in a similar state, and some of them apparently not so bad;
the severity of pain deprived me of appetite: nor could I so much as
drink the wine that was allowed me. The pain continued to increase; the
discharge from the wound was great; I was reduced to a skeleton, and my
strength was failing fast; I was at the gates of death; and, with
eternity before me, I was destitute of that discernment of the merits
and grace of the Great Redeemer, which alone can form a sure ground of
confidence, and a true source of consolation to a poor sinner, ready to
perish. I again reflected on my past life, and accused myself of want of
firmness in my resolutions. I thought God had now afflicted me in order
to make me hate sin, and love righteousness; and that were I again
restored to health, and free from pain, nothing in this world would be
able to make me leave my duty: and I flattered myself that what I had
now suffered had destroyed the love of sin in my heart. Under this
persuasion, being in agony through the severity of pain, I exclaimed,
"Lord, let it suffice thee, for it is enough; take but thine hand from
me this once!" Although this was not a prayer becoming a sinner ready to
perish, which ought to have been a supplication for mercy for the sake
of Christ; yet God was pleased in his compassion to grant me the thing I
sought. He did remove his hand, and spare my life; the mortification,
after having raged about three weeks, subsided; the putrid flesh began
to fall away; the burning pain left the wound; and in about ten days it
was clean; but the mortification had detached, and wholly destroyed, the
greater part of the tendon of the heel. I now looked upon myself as one
that had been rescued from the grave, and the occurrences that took
place immediately, tended still more strongly to impress this upon my
mind. The wound of my comrade, who had been serviceable to me when I was
so ill, as I began to mend, grew worse, inflamed, and in a few days,
nearly the whole of the calf of his leg was one putrid mass. A
blood-vessel burst in it during the night; but he was in such pain, that
he was not sensible of the bleeding, which continued until day break;
when the floor under and around his bed was covered with blood. The
surgeon was sent for, to whom he said, "I believe Sir, I have been
bleeding to death in the night time, and was not sensible of it." The
bleeding had now ceased, but he was so weak that he was unable to speak;
and he died in a few hours, and was carried out and buried. The
Saviour's words, "One shall be taken and the other left," struck me
forcibly in these circumstances: when my comrade, who was so shortly
before in a fairer way of recovery than I was, was thus cut off, and I
was left as a monument of God's sparing mercy.
His bed was not long empty. In a few days an Irish grenadier was brought
to it, whose case was truly hopeless. He had had a boil on the lower
part of the breast, which had mortified; the mortification had spread
over the breast, and had eaten a hole larger than a dollar into the
chest, so that when the dressing was off, the inside of the chest was
visible. He lived in great agony for about six days, and died; by which
time the hole into the chest was much larger.--In a few days after, the
same bed was filled by an artilleryman, a townsman of my own, who had
got the calf of one of his legs accidentally bruised. The leg inflamed;
amputation was resorted to; but, with all the attention the surgeons
paid to him, he also died in a very short time. My wound continued to
mend; and as soon as I was able to move, I got a crutch and a staff, and
a strap to support my leg, and got out of bed for a part of the day,
after having been confined to it nearly six months.
This was about the middle of September, before the Nile had attained the
height of its inundation. I passed a part of the day, sitting in one of
the front windows which looked to the Nile, and remarked its daily
progress. As I grew stronger, I got upon the roof of the building, which
was flat, and had a view of the town and the surrounding country. In the
country, on the opposite side of the Nile, nothing was to be seen, as
far as the eye could reach, but water, with the trees standing in it. I
travelled about too, visiting my acquaintances in the hospital who
belonged to the same regiment with myself.
Some of the Arab watermen were employed to supply the hospital with
water. They brought it from the Nile[16] upon their backs, in the skins
of goats slung across their shoulders. The skin had been sewed up after
being taken off the animal, and was in its natural shape; the neck part
being left open for filling and emptying. (This was simply twisted and
held together with the hand, when the skin was to be immediately
emptied; but it might be tied, when it was to be kept full, or carried
to a distance.) All kinds of liquids, even wine and honey are kept in
these skins.--This illustrates the parable of the new wine and old
bottles, Luke v. 37, 38. The bottles were _skins_: and, as wine is a
fermented liquor, the skin bottles, once used, would be so much
impregnated with the wine that had been in them, that if new wine were
put into them, it would cause it to ferment anew; and this would burst
them. The original inmates of the hospital were now greatly reduced; a
number having recovered, and a great many having died: but it was not
allowed in any part to remain empty. Grand Cairo having surrendered to
the British and Turkish forces on the 24th June, the sick of our own
army were sent down the Nile; and they filled up all the vacancies.
Cases of dysentery, and sore eyes, were so numerous, that a number of
buildings were fitted up in Rosetta for their reception. Many died of
the dysentery; but those afflicted with sore eyes were most numerous,
and much to be pitied.--Their torment was excessive: the pain in their
eyes was as if they had been filled with burning sand, they had no
respite from acute sufferings; and many lost their sight in spite of all
the power of medicine. About the end of August, my own eyes became
dreadfully inflamed in one night. The surgeon applied a very large
blister in the morning, and by next day the inflammation was greatly
subsided, but I did not get wholly free of it until I left Egypt, and
was several days at sea on the way to Malta. The Egyptian _ophthalmia_
was one of the most dreadful calamities that ever befel the British
army.
The French that were in Cairo, amounting to 13000, were embarked and
sent to France in the month of August.
As my leg continued to mend, I felt grateful to God for his great mercy
to me; but it was not long, until I had to accuse myself of having
failed in duty, and come short of my promise; and this threw me into
dejection of mind; which however wore gradually off. As I had much
leisure time, I read more of my Bible than formerly; but the historical
parts attracted my attention more than the doctrinal. Happening to read
through the beginning of Exodus, I was struck when I found, that I had
made use of the same words that Pharaoh used to Moses, chap. ix. ver.
28, and which he afterwards repeated, chap. x. ver. 17. This made me
fear, lest I should prove like Pharaoh; and in place of being softened
by mercies, and bound by gratitude, become hardened by them and perish
in the end. I then recollected, that I had heard Dr. Balfour preach,
from Hebrews iii. 12, 13, I remembered the words, "_lest any of you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin_," and I turned to the passage
and read it. It led me to ponder on the deceitful nature, and dangerous
tendency of sin; which increased my fear that I might become hardened,
and made my mind very uneasy. I would sometimes think on the
instructions I had got, and the tasks I had learned at the Sabbath
school; which I had now almost forgotten: I remembered some little of
the seventeenth chapter of John, for the learning of which, myself and
others had received a penny. This led me to read it, and the fifty-third
of Isaiah, which also I had learned; but I did not understand its
import, although familiar with the words. I then turned over all the
parallel passages, that I had read, in proof of doctrines in the school;
and although I did not understand those that treated of the way of a
sinner's acceptance with God, by faith in the righteousness and
atonement of the great Redeemer, yet it helped to keep the words of
Scripture relative to these doctrines on my memory, which was of use to
me afterwards. But the doctrines of heaven, and hell, the resurrection,
and eternal judgment, are more readily apprehended: and these made
increasingly strong impressions on my mind.
I was now pretty certain that I was unfit for military service; and from
Egypt, the land of bondage, I cast a longing eye to my native home, and
wished myself there, that I might enjoy the benefits of a Sabbath, the
instructions of religious teachers, and freedom from the society of the
wicked. All my hopes now centered in this, and had I despaired of it, I
would have given myself over for lost.
After the French were embarked who had surrendered at Cairo, our troops
which had been there, rejoined the army that was blockading Alexandria.
Several regiments had lately come from England, so that it was now
pretty strong. Alexandria was immediately besieged in form, and the
operations pushed so vigorously, that the garrison was compelled to
surrender on the 1st September, on condition of retaining their private
property and being sent to France. Their number was about eleven
thousand, of all descriptions. This event terminated hostilities in
Egypt, and our troops prepared to leave it as soon as possible. Rosetta
was occupied during the siege by a division of British, and Sepoys,
natives of India, under the command of Sir David Baird, who had come
from the East Indies to our assistance, with about seven thousand men.
They had sailed up the Red sea, and marched through the desert, and
arrived at Cairo shortly after it had surrendered. The Sepoys, when off
duty, laid aside their uniforms, and walked about in the burning sun
with nothing on the body but a pair of very short white drawers.
The dress of men and women of the common people of Egypt, consists of a
blue cotton gown resembling a woman's shift: some have an upper and
under garment. The men wear a sash or girdle round the middle; a turban
and slippers; but no stockings. The women have no girdle round the
middle; they wear vails; of which those that I saw were of coarse
net-work, resembling the texture of a serjeant's sash, and shaped like
the little bag nets used for catching trout in small rivers. The mouth
of them is put under the chin and over the forehead, and is fastened
behind: there are two holes opposite to the eyes, and the tapering end
hangs down the breast. They appear to think, that modesty lies in
concealing from public view the lower part of the face, whilst they are
very negligent in other respects, which are more essential to that
virtue. To Europeans the appearance of their faces, and particularly the
part that is usually concealed, is no way interesting.--Their complexion
is dark; their eyes, in general, are inflamed; and their cheeks and
chins are marked with the figures of half moons, stars, &c. in the way
that our sailors mark themselves.
In some of the towns, girls, 14 years old, were seen going to the river
for water, in a state of complete nudity; and males of all ages were
seen mixed together in groupes, in the same state, without any sense of
shame. They anoint their bodies with olive oil, which prevents the sun
from blistering the skin. There are no stools or chairs for sitting upon
in Egypt; their common way of sitting is upon the hams of their legs, in
which posture they will remain for hours, apparently as much at their
ease as a European upon a chair; they eat their meals in a reclining
posture, but make no use of knives, forks or spoons; when they sup they
literally "dip their hand in the dish,"[17] and feed themselves with
their fingers in place of spoons. The above customs were practised in
the time of Christ, and still exists through the east.
There are numbers of mosques, or Mahomedan churches, in the towns. They
have, in general, a particular kind of spires, called minarets, some of
which are very lofty: they are in shape at the top like an onion, but
have no weathercocks, nor clocks, nor bells; of which latter, the
Mahomedan religion prohibits the use. The minarets have all one or more
balustrades round them, into which a man ascends at the end of every
watch, and walks round, calling the people to prayers with as loud a
voice as he possibly can. In Egypt it is commonly a blind man who
performs this office.
The uninterrupted sunshine at Cairo, afforded the French the means of
partly supplying the want of clocks and bells, by ascertaining exactly
when it was twelve o'clock. They mounted one of the guns in the citadel
upon a peculiar construction, and put some fine brass work at the
breech, in which was a burning glass just over the touch hole; by which
the rays of the sun, the instant he reached the meridian, kindled the
powder and fired the gun. This is a proof that clouds and rain are
seldom seen at Cairo; otherwise the firing of the gun could not have
been depended on. When the French left the citadel, the Turks got
possession of it; and some of them broke and stole the brass work of
this gun, supposing the polished metal to be gold.
The heat of the country was very oppressive; and the army that went to
Cairo suffered much from it during their march. The perspiration came
through their clothes, and wetted their buff belts opposite the back,
just as if they had been soaked in water.
About this time a very melancholy accident happened to some men of the
13th regiment of foot. Their regimental store house was in a building a
few yards from the hospital; some of them were employed sorting
cartridges in a room on the first floor, when one of them came in
smoking tobacco, and thoughtlessly held his head over an open chest into
which they were packing the cartridges; a spark fell from the pipe, and
the powder exploded and gave a violent shock to the hospital and
adjacent buildings; several men, and a serjeant's wife, were killed in
the house, and I think nine or ten more were much bruised and dreadfully
burned, and were brought into the hospital; their condition was more
pitiful than that of those who were severely wounded, because so much of
the skin of the face and body had been burned, that they had not sound
skin left to lie upon; five or six of them lingered about a week in
great agony, and died. I think that twelve or sixteen were killed or
severely injured by this accident. Some who were sitting in the bottom
of an open window, with their legs over the wall, were blown down into
the street, but were not much hurt.
Towards the end of September, my wound was nearly whole, but my leg was
very much contracted. I was ordered to prepare to join my regiment at
Alexandria to go home with it. But before taking a final leave of the
hospitals, I would make a few further remarks upon the manner in which I
saw my fellow creatures depart this life. And it must be confessed, that
to all appearance many of them died _hardy_; they might groan through
extremity of bodily pain, but did not exhibit any anguish of mind at the
fear of death or judgment; but I could not discern any rational ground
for this apparent want of anxiety about futurity. To make a merit of
meeting death bravely, when it can not be avoided, is but a poor reason
for a rational, immortal, and accountable creature, to act upon. If man
is a sinner, and must render an account to his Maker when he dies,
surely to manifest no concern about the issue of death, is not to act
the part worthy of a rational creature. To shut out all concern about
eternity, in order to act the _hero_ at the last, is liker the conduct
of a blind madman than a true _hero_; for true courage in the hour of
death can only be founded on the knowledge of our being happier
hereafter; and this persuasion is only to be attained, by the reception
of the good news of salvation by Jesus Christ, revealed in the
Scriptures. Infidelity has said much against the superstition of the
Bible; but while it does this, it gives an accountable creature nothing
in the room of it upon which to found a reasonable hope for eternity.
Infidels have often said that the fears of hell which make men afraid to
die, are the produce of superstition. Were there none of those whom I
saw die, who had freed themselves of the fears produced by the Bible
account of a future state? It is likely that some of them had; for their
previous habits and behaviour were as opposite to the Scriptures, as if
they had never heard of such a book; and it was as little talked of, as
if it had never existed. If infidelity be _true_, the death of its
disciples ought to be more dignified and composed than that of any
others: their future prospects ought to be the most certain,
intelligent, and cheering to the immortal soul, when it is about to take
its flight into the world of spirits and return to God who gave it. A
dying infidel, if his system be _truth_, should be one that should
rejoice in death, that he had freed himself from the fears produced by
the Bible; he ought to be able to direct those around his dying bed to
the truth that supports his mind, and show, at the same time, that he
has a proper discernment of his own condition as an accountable
creature, and suitable conceptions of the moral character of his Maker
and Judge. But of all that I ever saw die, I never heard any rejoicing
in the assertions of infidelity: I saw many die apparently _hardy_; but
their deaths resembled more that of the beasts that perish, than of
accountable immortal creatures. I have since seen Christians die, but
the manner of their death was very different: their conceptions of the
majesty and holy purity of God were exalted; their sense of the evil of
their own sins, and the moral responsibility of their conduct, was deep;
but with all this full in their view, they had good hope through
trusting in Christ; and I never yet saw or heard of a dying Christian
who regretted that he had trusted too much to Christ, or thought too
highly of him; but the contrary. I have often heard them regret deeply
that they had thought too lowly of him, and of what he had done to save
sinners, and had trusted too little to him, and depended too little on
the promises of the Bible; and I have heard them pray earnestly for
forgiveness for this, as being the most heinous of all their
sins.--Reader, if ever your mind has been stumbled by the arguments of
infidelity, try it by this test,--what provision does it make for
eternity, to a sinful and accountable creature; and you will find that
in this most important of all other concerns it makes no provision
whatever: it is revelation alone that either does or can make any
provision for a certain ground of hope for futurity. God alone can tell
how he will forgive sin: he has done this in the Scriptures, and there
alone. O be sure you examine what is revealed in them upon this subject,
and build your hope for eternity only upon what God has revealed to a
sinner to trust in, that you may not die in despair, nor be deluded by a
false hope, and finally be disappointed: and for this purpose, I
earnestly entreat your serious consideration of what is said towards the
conclusion of this narrative.
Before leaving the hospital, I feel bound in gratitude to acknowledge
the care and attention that was paid to the sick and wounded: all things
considered, every thing was done for them that could be done, and much
expense was incurred for medicines, attendance, and accommodation, and
every exertion made to procure suitable provisions. When I think upon it
to this day, I feel grateful for the care that was taken of the
helpless, and those who were rendered unfit to serve their country any
longer: by this means many were preserved to their families and their
friends, who otherwise would never have returned.
On the 29th September, I embarked in a Germ on the Nile, which dropped
down the river, and lay near the entrance, to be ready to pass the bar
early in the morning, that being the most favourable time; for the wind
rises at sun rise, and blows from the sea up the river during the day,
with a steady, and sometimes strong breeze, and dies away in the
evening. Vessels going up the Nile carry a press of sail, and go at a
great rate during the day, and stop at night: vessels going down the
river lower their sails and yards, lay their broadside to the stream,
and drift along with it. On the morning of the 30th, the wind and surf
were so high, that it was unsafe to attempt passing the bar; so that we
returned to Rosetta and lay it the quay three days, waiting for moderate
weather. The Nile was still considerably above its banks: the extensive
fields of rice, and corn, particularly on the east side, excited my
admiration. The seed had been sown previously to the inundation, and had
taken root and grown up with the rise of the water; which made it to
have a compact and level surface, resembling that of a bowling-green,
for many miles. This crop would be ripe, by the time the inundation
would fall within the banks of the river; and another crop of wheat or
barley, and one of clover or vegetables, would be produced before the
return of the inundation next year.--Water is raised by buffaloes and
oxen from the river, into the canals;[18] the beds of which are above
the level of the country. It is let out into the fields during the
growth of the other two crops; and when the last one is reaped, this
labour is suspended. Then the heat of the sun soon dries the ground, and
rends it into numerous and deep fissures; some of them are from ten to
twenty feet deep. The army experienced considerable difficulty from this
cause, on its march back from Cairo; particularly at night, when both
men and horses were in danger of having their legs broke by falling into
them.
While I lay at the quay, I was astonished at the great number of boats
discharging cargoes of grain, which was piled in huge heaps in the open
air, not far from the brink of the river;[19] a sight which reminded one
of the words of Jacob, "I have heard that there is _corn_ in Egypt."
But, with all this plenty, it is a miserable place. The common people
enjoy little of its abundance; their condition is the most wretched I
ever saw or heard of among civilized nations. The houses of the
peasantry are mere hovels, little if any thing better than the Kraals of
the wild Hottentots.[20] The inhabitants of the land of Egypt, which was
the house of bondage to the children of Israel, now suffer bondage in
their own land, little, if at all, interior to that which their
ancestors made the Israelites suffer. The government has for a long time
been in the hands of Turks or Mamelukes, who are always foreigners, and
who rule with rigour; and the inhabitants never take any interest in the
affairs of the government, but are entirely passive to every change that
takes place. The country abounds with Arabs. The Copts, its original
inhabitants, are the fewest in number; they profess Christianity, and
are the more liable, on that account, to be oppressed by their Mahomedan
masters. The prediction is now fully verified, that Egypt, once the
_first_ of nations, should become the _basest_ of kingdoms: Ezek. xxix.
15, 16. It is sunk so low in ignorance and wretchedness, that, if it
were not for the many elegant and stupendous remains of antiquity
existing in the country, the voice of history, strong as it is, could
scarcely be credited, that it was once the _first_ of nations, and the
seat of the arts and sciences. It is a land of pestilence and disease.
"In Cairo, last year, forty thousand were supposed to be infected with
the plague: and many of the French garrison died in that city, although
the disease was treated in their hospitals with the greatest ability. In
Upper Egypt sixty thousand perished during the same season,"[21] besides
those who died of it in other parts of the country. Among the British,
the plague was confined to the "hospital and troops stationary at
Aboukir, where it broke out on the 12th April, and terminated on the
26th August. Three hundred and eighty, in the course of that time, were
affected with it; one hundred and seventy-three died, and two hundred
and seven recovered. The deaths chiefly fell on the orderlies, nurses,
and other servants of the hospitals."[22] "The plague raged again at
Rosetta towards the fall of the year and numbers of the Sepoys died of
it."[23] When a person is infected with the pestilence, after the manner
of Egypt, (Amos iv. 10,) the disease is indicated by two boils which are
commonly in the groin. In addition to the plague, "Leprosy of the worst
species, and Elephantiasis, which swells the legs larger than a common
bolster," and a number of other diseases are very general. "The number
of blind is prodigious, nearly every fifth inhabitant has lost one eye,
and many both. All the children have sore eyes, and Europeans do not
escape better. The French at first had more than two thirds of their
army affected with this malady; and the English, during their short
stay, had one hundred and sixty totally blind, and two hundred that lost
one eye irrecoverably."[24] How many more were affected with this
dreadful malady among the troops that remained in the country until the
following year, when it was wholly evacuated, I can not tell; but have
reason to believe the number was considerable. Children must suffer much
during their infancy from the flies, because they are unable to drive
them from their eyes. I saw a woman going to the Nile for water, which
she carried in a pitcher upon her head: a naked child sat across her
shoulders; its little hands were employed in holding by the head of its
mother, to prevent itself from falling; its eye-lashes were literally
black with flies that were sucking at its eyes, as they would do at
sugar. They work themselves into the inner coating of the eyelids of
infants, which no doubt causes some of them to lose their sight in their
tender years. In addition to flies, gnats and mosquitoes, all other
kinds of vermin are incredibly numerous and troublesome; so much so,
that, although there were nothing else but them, they would make Egypt
an uncomfortable country to live in. Although the French used all the
freedom of conquerors, they were perfectly sick of it. When we landed,
they supposed, that, after we had expelled them, we intended to retain
possession of it; and they sincerely pitied the lot of their supposed
successors. They fought, indeed, bravely; but it was not out of love to
the country, but in subordination to military discipline, and for the
honour of their arms; but when compelled to surrender on condition of
being sent home to France, they rejoiced in the event as a happy
deliverance. And indeed it was no wonder; for, in addition to the
disagreeable nature of the climate, many of the military posts where
they did duty, being in lonely sandy deserts, were so ill accommodated,
and in all respects so uncomfortable, that to do service at them was
fitter for being a punishment to men banished for their crimes, than for
those who deserved well of their country.
Dr. Clarke sailed up the Nile on the 10th of August, 1801, when the
river was beginning to overflow the country. The following extract
corroborates all that I had heard related by my comrades, after they had
returned from Cairo, and is so interesting, that it will gratify such
readers as have not access to his work. After passing Rachmanie, he
says, "Villages in an almost uninterrupted succession, denoted a much
greater population than we had imagined this country to contain. Upon
each side of the river, as far as the eye could reach, we saw fields of
corn and rice, with such beautiful groves, seeming to rise out of the
watery plains, and to shade innumerable settlements in the _Delta_,
amidst never-ending plantations of melons, and all kinds of garden
vegetables, that, from the abundance of its harvests, Egypt might be
deemed the richest country in the world. Such is the picture exhibited
to the native inhabitants, who are seasoned to withstand the disorders
of the country, and can bear with indifference the attacks of myriads of
all sorts of noxious animals; to whom mud and mosquitoes, or dust and
vermin, are alike indifferent; who, having never experienced one
comfortable feeling in the midst of their highest enjoyments, nor a
single antidote to sorrow in the depths of their wretchedness, vegetate,
like the _bananas_ and _sycamores_ around them. But strangers, and
especially the inhabitants of _Northern_ countries, where wholesome air
and cleanliness are among the necessaries of life, must consider Egypt
as the most detestable region upon earth. Upon the retiring of the Nile,
the country is one vast swamp. The atmosphere is impregnated with every
putrid and offensive exhalation, then stagnates, like the filthy pools
over which it broods. Then, too, the plague regularly begins; nor
ceases, until the waters return again.[25] Throughout the spring,
intermitting fevers universally prevail. About the beginning of May,
certain winds cover even the sands of the desert with the most
disgusting vermin.[26] The latest descendants of Pharaoh are not yet
delivered from the evils which fell upon the land, when it was smitten
by the hands of Moses and Aaron; the 'plague of frogs,' the 'plague of
lice,' the 'plague of flies,' the 'murrain, boils, and blains,' prevail
so, that the whole country is 'corrupted,' and '_the dust of the earth
becomes lice, upon man and upon beast, throughout the land of Egypt_.'
This application of the words of sacred Scripture affords a literal
statement of existing evils, such an one as the statistics of the
country do now warrant. In its justification, an appeal may be made to
the testimony of all those who have resided in the country during the
very opposite seasons of its prosperity and privation; during the
inundation, and when the flood has retired, or before it takes place, in
the beginning of the year. At the period of the overflow, persons who
drink the water become subject to a disorder called '_prickly heat_:'
this often terminates in those dreadful wounds alluded to in the sacred
writings, by the words '_boils and blains_.' During the months of
_June_, _July_, and _August_, many individuals are deprived of sight,
owing to a disorder of the eyes peculiar to this country. _Europeans_,
having no other name for it, have called it _ophthalmia_, from the
organs it affects. There was hardly an individual who did not suffer,
more or less, the consequences of this painful malady. At this season,
also, the dysentery begins to number its victims; and although some be
fortunate enough to escape the worst effects of this disorder, it proves
fatal in many instances."[27]
Dr. Clarke's account of what he experienced at Cairo, in the middle of
August, is also interesting: "The mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer
seemed at this time fixed. It remained at 90 degrees for several days,
without the smallest perceptible change. Almost every European suffered
from inflammation of the eyes. Many were troubled with cutaneous
disorders. The prickly heat was very common. This was attributed to
drinking the muddy water of the Nile, the inhabitants having no other.
Their mode of purifying it, in a certain degree, is by rubbing the
inside of the water vessel with bruised almonds: this precipitates a
portion of the mud, but it is never quite clear. Many persons were
afflicted with sores upon the skin, which were called '_biles of the
Nile_;' and dysenterical complaints were universal. A singular species
of _lizard_ made its appearance in every chamber, having circular
membranes at the extremity of its feet, which gave it such tenacity,
that it walked upon window-panes of glass, or upon the surfaces of
pendent mirrors.[28] This revolting sight was common to every apartment,
whether in the houses of the rich or of the poor. At the same time, such
a plague of flies covered all things with their swarms, that it was
impossible to eat without hiring persons to stand by every table with
feathers, or flappers, to drive them away. Liquor could not be poured
into a glass; the mode of drinking was by keeping the mouth of every
bottle covered until the moment it was applied to the lips: and
instantly covering it with the palm of the hand, when removing it to
offer to any one else. The utmost attention to cleanliness, by a
frequent change of every article of wearing apparel, could not repel the
attacks of vermin which seemed to infest even the air of the place. A
gentleman made his appearance before a party he had invited to dinner,
with lice swarming upon his clothes. The only explanation he could give
as to the cause, was, that he had sat for a short time in one of the
boats upon the canal. Perhaps objection may be made to a statement even
of facts, which refers to no pleasing theme; but the author does not
conceive it possible to give _Englishmen_ a correct notion of the trials
to which they will be exposed in visiting this country, without calling
some things by their proper names."[29]
Before losing sight of the contest that was in Egypt, it may not be
amiss to glance at the unavoidable evils of _war_. With the inhabitants
we had no quarrel: our sole object was to expel the French. But this
could not be done, without the peaceful inhabitants receiving, in many
cases, serious injury. The roads from town to town did not suit the
march of the army to and from Cairo; the troops generally took the
direct road through the corn-fields, and their encampments were
sometimes in fields of corn, tobacco, poppies, sego, melons, indigo, &c.
the produce of which, however valuable, was destroyed. Fuel was scarce;
and the soldiers were necessitated to use whatever would burn. Stalks of
tobacco, bean straw, and such like substances, were used to boil the
kettles;[30] and in places where dry straw was difficult to be had, it
was necessary to place guards at the entrances to the neighbouring
villages or towns, to prevent the soldiers from unroofing the houses for
wood to make fuel: and with all the attention of the officers, such was
the necessity of the case, that injury could not always be prevented.
The discipline of the army was strict, and the general behaviour of the
troops good; but many instances of petty depredations and pilfering took
place, that were not known, and could not be prevented. Many instances
occurred of inhabitants, particularly Arabs, who sold bread, fruit,
eggs, &c. having their articles taken from them by "fellows of the baser
sort," without any payment, and sometimes with abuse into the bargain.
The Arabs when so used would throw dust upon their heads, and call upon
God, and the Prophet, and the Sultan. But as this usage was not general,
and as the army spent a considerable sum of good money among them,[31]
they were not deterred from following it with whatever they had to sell,
and I believe many of them made more money at that time, than ever they
had an opportunity of doing before or since. On the afternoon of the 2d
October, we again left Rosetta, and lay for the night near the mouth of
the river. The wind was moderate next morning; we passed the bar safely:
had a pleasant voyage across the bay of Aboukir, and through Like
Maadie; passed through the cut in the banks of the canal of Alexandria
into Lake Mareotis,[32] and landed not far from the place where the
battle of the 21st of March was fought, of which I had thus another
view, and which I never can forget. I joined the regiment on the heights
of Alexandria; we embarked next day at Aboukir, on board of two
frigates; sailed on the morning of the 7th October; and lost sight of
the celebrated land of Egypt by 12 o'clock. None regretted this. We
indeed regretted our countrymen and comrades, who had found a grave
there; but the country itself had no charms to make us regret leaving
it. All our thoughts were now fixed upon home; and we rejoiced to think,
that every day was bringing us nearer it.
Footnote 16:
During the time of the inundation, the water in the river is very
thick but as much pure water as served us for drinking, was procured
from some private wells in the town, which I suppose had a
communication with the river, which had the effect of filtering the
water.
Footnote 17:
Matthew xxvi. 23.
Footnote 18:
I saw the buffaloes at this employment, when I sailed up the river, on
the 24th June, when coming to Rosetta. The buffalo is much larger than
the ox; his bones are uncommonly large, even in comparison to the size
of his body, which is very lean; his strength must be much greater
than that of the ox. When he walks, he carries his head like the
camel, his nose being nearly as high as his horns, and is on the whole
a very dull looking animal; but, notwithstanding, he is capable of
being trained to this work, as well, if not better, than the ox, for I
saw them keeping a slow but steady pace at their work, without the
immediate presence of a driver. The water is raised by a wheel, upon
which buckets or earthen pitchers are fastened.
Since the publication of the first edition, I have seen the 5th vol.
of Dr. Clarke's Travels in Egypt; and as his knowledge is more
extensive than mine, I take the liberty of inserting an extract, upon
the produce and manner of cultivating the Delta. Speaking of the
method of watering the ground, he says, "The land thus watered,
produces three crops in each year; the first of clover, the second of
corn, and the third of rice. The rice grounds are inundated, from the
time of sowing nearly to harvest. The seed is commonly cast upon the
water, a practice twice alluded to in sacred Scripture. _Balaam_
prophesied of _Israel_, Numb. xxiv. 7, that 'his seed should be in
many waters.' In the directions given for charity, by the son of
_David_, it is written, Eccles. xi. 1. 'Cast thy bread (_i. e._ bread
corn) upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.' When
the rice plants are about two feet high they are transplanted."--Vol.
v. pp. 47, 48.
Footnote 19:
The grain was measured by an Arab into baskets, which were carried to
the heap by others, upon their shoulders. The measurer accompanied his
work with a song indicative of the quantity he put into each basket.
The owner stood upon the quay and received a bean or pea from the
carriers as they passed by him to the heap; and this was the method by
which he kept an account of the quantity landed.
Footnote 20:
I saw the exterior of some of these houses on the banks of the Nile,
but never had an opportunity of seeing their interior. Sir R. Wilson
says, in vol. i. pp. 156, 157, "All language is insufficient to give a
just idea of the misery of an Egyptian village; but those who have
been in Ireland, may best suppose the degree, when an Irish hut is
described as a palace, in comparison to an Arab's stye; for it can be
called by no other name. Each habitation is built of mud, even the
roof, and resembles in shape an oven: within is only one apartment,
generally of about ten feet square. The door does not admit of a man's
entering upright; but, as the bottom is dug out about two feet, when
in the room an erect posture is possible. A mat, some large vessels to
hold water, which is the constant occupation of the women to fetch; a
pitcher made of fine porous clay, found best in Upper Egypt, near
Cunei, and in which the water is kept very cool; a rice pan and coffee
pot, are all the ornaments and utensils. Here, then, a whole family
eat and sleep without any consideration of decency or cleanliness;
being, in regard to the latter, worse even than the beasts of the
field, which naturally respect their own tenements."
Footnote 21:
Sir R. Wilson's History, vol. ii. p. 116.
Footnote 22:
Ibid. pp. 115, 132.
Footnote 23:
Ibid. p. 119.
Footnote 24:
Ibid. p. 121.
Footnote 25:
"General _Le Grange_ assured us, when on board the _Braakel_, that the
ravages in the French army, caused by the plague, during the month of
April, at one time, amounted to an hundred men in a single day."
Footnote 26:
"Sir Sidney Smith informed the author (Dr. Clarke) that one night,
preferring a bed upon the sand of the desert to a night's lodging in
the village of Etko, as thinking he should be more secure from vermin,
he found himself, in the morning, entirely covered by them. Lice and
_scorpions_ abound in all the sandy desert near Alexandria." One of my
comrades informed me, that when some of the _date_ trees were split at
_Aboukir_, for making the hospital, there were so many lice in the
hearts of them that they might have been gathered in handfuls. The
frogs also were so abundant at some of the places where the army
halted between Rosetta and Cairo, that it was not possible to get at
the water in the river without treading upon them; and at one place
the camp ground was literally covered with black beetles, to the no
small annoyance of the soldiers in the tents, and the bed frames and
mats that we got new in the hospital in Rosetta in the end of June,
were so full of bugs by the end of September, that they were fit only
to be burnt.
Footnote 27:
Clarke's Travels, vol. v. pp. 56, 59.
Footnote 28:
"A similar membrane terminates each foot of a common fly: beneath
which a vacuum takes place, and the animal maintains a footing upon
ceilings, owing to the pressure of the external air upon this
membrane."
Footnote 29:
Clarke's Travels, vol. v. pp. 78, 80.
Footnote 30:
When their rations happened to be salt pork, they used to put a piece
of it under the kettle to burn with the straw.
Footnote 31:
With the exception of gold, which was in the hands of a few, the coin
circulating in Egypt was made of base metal, watered over with silver;
and was of little or no intrinsic value. There were large pieces of
this kind, some of them larger than a crown, which were of different
values: but a small coin, called a para, about the breadth of a
farthing, and no thicker than the scale of a fish, was the most
common; of which 120, and in some places 160, were given for a Spanish
dollar. The money expended by the army was gold and Spanish dollars.
Footnote 32:
The inundation in this lake extended farther than the eye could reach.
The banks of the canal formed a road for communicating with the
interior of the country; a bridge of boats united the banks, one of
the boats being moveable, for the purpose of allowing vessels to pass
in and out of Lake Mareotis. Before the army wholly left the country,
the boats forming the bridge were sunk in the cut, and served for a
foundation upon which the banks were rebuilt. When the British took
Alexandria, in March, 1807, a detachment was sent to take Rosetta; but
they were repulsed by those Turks who had accompanied the army on its
march to and from Cairo, and who had acquired a considerable portion
of British discipline. The rays of the sun had by this time so far
dried up the salt water in Lake Mareotis as to render it passable; but
the British again cut the banks of the canal, and admitted the sea
into it, to protect Alexandria from being attacked by the Turks.